The fashion show is dead. Long live the interactive, digital brand experience now taking place during New York and London fashion weeks, where consumers, influencers and their collective social media clout are the preferred global audience. Continue reading →

I love the way that Nike has been updating classics from its archives over the last few years. Not such a stange statement you might think, but this comes from someone whose mantra is a fixed, ‘don’t mess with a classic, it’s classic for a reason’. Yet Nike is pulling it off, time and time again. Continue reading →

Last month saw the 33rd year of the Afro Hair and Beauty Live show at Islington’s Business Design Centre, the biggest show of its kind in Europe. Knowing how big the UK black beauty market is (black women are said to spend six times more on hair and beauty), I intended to go to this but in the end had conflicting commitments. Instead, TOLU OGUNSOLA attended on my behalf and here she reports on her top three finds…

Just as I expected, I was greeted with a great buzzing atmosphere as I entered Afro Hair And Beauty Live. People were talking excitedly here, there and everywhere about what products they wanted to buy and blaring music further amped up the excitement for all involved. Natural hair has definitely taken off in the past year or so, with women of colour taking a vested interest in returning back to their roots as it were. Continue reading →

Jigsaw has opened a mini department store dedicated to what it calls ‘social shopping’, putting the 3D back into retail. DRG contributor ALISON BISHOP takes a tour with CEO Peter Ruis

“Retail brands have the authenticity to create something unexpected, at Jigsaw we like shops to be slightly off-pitch,” CEO Peter Ruis told me at the launch for Jigsaw’s Duke Street Emporium in Mayfair.

The Emporium name comes from the idea that Jigsaw’s new multi-label, multi-concept two-floor store is like a journey of discovery. “It’s a bit of fun, it’s a bit of curating, the rooms are like catacombs of discovery,” says Ruis. “You can travel through the store finding new products and displays, it’s intended to be very fluid and you can spend as much time as you like going from room to room. They are quite small and merchandise is not overloaded so you can always find things to be inspired,” he says. Continue reading →

DRG was recently gifted a rather fine Kaweco AL Sport fountain pen, ownership of which has rapidly transferred to me…

How I wasn’t aware of these pens I’ve no idea. They’re a design classic that has remained pretty much unchanged since the 1930s and are the absolute embodiment of the minimalist, utilitarian German industrial design that I love. Continue reading →

Branded content is all the rage now, from etail sites with blogs and themed edits, to fully-formed in-house magazines from brands like Topshop, Acne and Cos. Levi’s Made & Crafted has gone about things in a different way, as guest contributor, LSN Global retail editor ALISON BISHOP reports… Continue reading →

Ever the innovator, Nike is building on its sustainable product design credentials by sharing its in-house Materials Sustainability Index for anyone to learn from and use – in the form of its new Making app. After collaborating with students at London College of Fashion’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion, the new app helps designers and product creators make more informed decisions about the environmental impacts of the materials they choose. It works by ranking textiles and other materials used for product design based on four environmental concern areas: water, chemistry, energy and waste. For example who knew that the manufacture of silk uses 50% less water than cotton?

“It’s the start of a conversation,” Lee Holman, Nike’s vice-president of global apparel design told me. “Innovation is in Nike’s DNA, and sustainability is an integral part of Nike’s design process. We’ve created the Making app to empower any designer around the world to make better materials choices in the early stages of the design process. Ultimately everyone wants to create products that are better for the planet, and we want to be able to facilitate that idea.”

It’s quite a statement from the sports giant, especially considering it’s not a selling tool and it’s not connected directly to any Nike product. It’s just for the good of the planet. We call it ‘Brandstanding’ at LS:N Global. Sustainability is the new battleground for brands that want to resonate with disillusioned Millennial consumers (25-35 years old) and brands with cast iron credentials will win the vote. Now I might even design myself a version of Nike’s Flyknit trainers…

No-one does the high street better than the Brits, except possibly the Swedes! Well, H&M in particular. Launching today is H&M’s new brand, & Other Stories. Here’s the verdict from guest contributor, LSN Global retail editor, ALISON BISHOP

So, the new retail concept & Other Stories by H&M has finally launched (in London first, natch), and it seems there is room for another fashion retail concept on the high street. & Other Stories lives up to its premium product pitch in terms of ‘style over fast-fashion’. Continue reading →

Nothing quite sums up summer for me than the opportunity to ditch the boots and knits for a Bass Weejun and a bare ankle. Preppy fever has hit London with the arrival of Tommy Hilfiger’s pop up beach house, so retail consultant – and author of Bish-Shops blog – ALISON BISHOP (my first ever guest editor!) went to the opening to report… Continue reading →